Michael Essien Injury Adds to Ghana’s Woes

As injury woes plague the Ghana team the nation is uncertain when their players will fully recover…

Ghanaians are anxious to know when midfield mainstay Michael Essien will return to the field after he sustained a hamstring injury on Tuesday night in Chelsea's Champions League win over APOEL.

"Michael has a problem with his leg. We will look at him over the next few days and check on him on Tuesday," Chelsea boss Ancelotti said.

"We hope it's not a big problem. I think he will not be able to play on Saturday."

As the African Cup of Nations looms, Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac has expressed concern about the numerous injuries bedeviling his side.

“Several other players face a race against time to be fit but we are still hoping to hit top form at the right time,” he told Ghanafa.org.

Francis Quartey, a soccer theatre operator in Accra also reacted to news of Essien's injury, telling Goal.com: “This is really devastating. Essien commands the midfield of the Black Stars and without him we look vulnerable. I hope he recovers quick.”

“There are too many injured players in our team. I hope the coach will start training the young boys and utilise them in a lot of tough friendlies to help to make them fit for the Cup of Nations,” Quartey added.

The Black Stars are already bemoaning the likely absence of their captain Stephen Appiah who suffered the same fate just last week and could even miss the entire tournament.

Meanwhile, deputy captain John Mensah is nursing a calf injury at English side Sunderland while strikers Matthew Amoah and Asamoah Gyan are prone to injury.

Ghana are paired in a tough Group B against Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo in the tournament which runs from January 10–31 in Angola.